Concept art shows that Yuri Sakazaki originally had a trio of friends designed in order to help flesh out her character, which consisted of a part-time model, a student, and a 10 year old girl who views Yuri as a big sister of sorts. None of them appear in the game, with the idea being dropped during development.

During the development of Art of Fighting 2, the early concept behind Eiji Kisaragi was that of a "Short, Mexican Wrestler type character". Additionally, concept art shows that he originally wore a type of mask used by Samurai warriors to hide both their identities and their emotional state as well as to scare the enemy.